


Turning Point

by Probotype, timeausTestifiied



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Blood, Blood and Gore, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Family Bonding, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Mute Hal, Muteness, Nightmares, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 11:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14873126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Probotype/pseuds/Probotype, https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeausTestifiied/pseuds/timeausTestifiied
Summary: As it turns out, taking too many off brand painkillers can lead towards a whole string of events that no one expects, which is exactly what Dave Strider learns one Saturday night.Not to say said events are bad. Actually, they're the opposite, for a vast number of reasons.a small (but not really) fic written by two moirails who have Way too much time on their hands <>





	1. Rabbit Hole

Reader: Be Dave

You are now DAVE STRIDER. you are thirteen years old and you live with your three brothers, Although you only count two of them as actual brothers. 

You couldn't help but having to take painkillers. You were hurt as hell after a strife with Bro, and bandages wouldn't be enough. 

Hal had been scurried away by Dirk, and while he wanted to help you too, by the time he’d hidden Hal from view of you and Bro, the strife was almost over, for you anyways. 

You stumbled into your room, Dirk looking up from his phone as you did. It was a small room for three people, the beds tightly packed. It wasn’t like Bro cared anyways. Sometimes you wondered if he saw you as anything more than training dummies to throw around when he got bored.

Hal didn't react much when you came in, only glancing. He had taken to being quiet, probably scared to alert anyone, but you saw him trying to hide a look of concern. You silently reached into your closet and pulled out a small bottle of AJ, grabbing the first aid kit you’d hidden in there too

Dirk got up to help you. You were good at dressing your wounds, probably more than a thirteen year old should be, but Dirk probably felt bad about not getting there in time. Eh, you'd let him have this. If he thinks he's making something up to you, good for him. You both silently stitched up the deeper slashes, and added disinfectant to the bandages, wrapping them around the cuts.

Hal watched this, probably taking mental notes. You swear, that kid can record, like, the first fifty numbers of pi in his head. Damn good memory. He could say a few things in binary. Fucking nerd.

Maybe messaging your best friend while almost definitely high on off brand painkillers was a bad idea. But did you give a fuck? Of course not. 

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

TG: listen bro broseph rose the light of my sorry shit life dont down 5 painkillers in one go snot a good idea not that id know of course 

TT: I'm unsure of how truthful that last part is. But, thanks for the compliment. In all seriousness, though, are you high? Because, while I appreciate the advice, this seems extremely random, even for you. Unless this is one of your metaphors again. 

TG: okay so it might be true but im fiine stops like pain or whatever the fuck n my metaphors are great thank you very much i work hard on them dog

TT: Wait. Pain? Did something happen?

TG: you know when someone hits you repeatedly with a stabby thing

TT: Not from experience, no. Someone stabbed you? Did you call the police?

TG: i just patched myself up and noo i dont know why i should this is like a normal fuckin thing apparently and really ive sorta learnt to deal with this shit but yknow im up for suggestionns

TT: Generally, if someone continuously stabs you, that's more than a good reason to call 911. So that's my suggestion. Who the hell is stabbing you?

TG: fukinn my shitlord of a brother not dirk dirk is cool n shit bro but like Bro yknow capital B 

TT: Holy fuck.  
TT: Dave, that's literally child abuse. 

TG: maybe so but doesnt mean i can fuckin call the police bro probably monitors the phone lines n shit he always knows the crap we do fuckin webcams everywhere n shit

TT: That is… extremely fucked up. I could call the police if you want. Or my mom. Or Roxy. Literally any of us could, and definitely would. 

TG: i mean if you feel liek you should, then by alllll means go ahead, i doubt anythin will come from it tho the police are shit dirk almost fell off the roof one time tryna get hal out the way and no one even noticed

TT: What time was it when that happened? If it was late, that could be why. 

TG: uh fuck if i remeber i was like 10 or somethin  
TG: i just remember they both almost went splat and bro laughed his ass off

TT: Wait a fucking second. If you were ten, Hal was seven. How long as your brother been doing this to you guys?

TG: earliest i remember was i was 5 but dirk says he tried to punt me off the roof when i was 3 pchooo

TT: Okay, definitely having my mom call the cops. 

TG: shit aight should i tell dirk an hal or

TT: Probably. They'd be less surprised when they do arrive. 

TG: should i pester dirk i think if bro heard hed slit and or shove a smuppet down my throat 

TT: Yes. Definitely just pester him. Tell him to have Hal look at the screen. 

TG: gotcha girl-bro bright bro light of my Bro life my broseph B))

TT: B-rose-ph. 

TG: SHIT DUDE didnt even notice that sick ass pun i made god i really am the coolest fucker this side of texas mother fuckers be fightin to learn from me

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 8:48pm 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PT: hey! we hope you enjoyed, That. remember, comments fuel us to Keep It Goin
> 
> PT: pester logs are absolute hell to do but also it's oddly relaxing?
> 
> PT: we have no set schedule, but we already have about six and a half chapters finished. 
> 
> PT: individual trigger warnings will be added to the tags upon us writing them, and will be presented in the beginning notes before each chapter!
> 
> PT: our tumblrs are probotype n t1maeustestified!


	2. Frondly Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this ones taking place in rose's perspective chaps! have fun!

Dave: Be Rose

You are now ROSE LALONDE, and your concern knows no bounds. At least, right now it doesn’t. Right now, your concern has been placed upon none other than Dave Strider, your friend of about five years or so. You are also concerned for his brothers, but definitely not the oldest. What you feel for him is more murder-like. You silently wish you could use your Ancient Eldritch Summoners Book to make his life hell, but you could put the three brothers in danger too, so you lay off on cursing the eldest brother until the other three are out of the way. 

Luckily for you, your mother has been making a conscious effort to drink less, so explaining this to her should generally be pretty easy, but you still go to your older sister’s room and recruit her for backup anyways, as you can never be too prepared, and you figure she would want to help, as Dirk seems to be one of her best friends. She would fight off a wolf for Hal, probably, she cares a lot for the youngest Strider brother. You do too, of course, but your interactions with him are rare. He’s a little smartass.He doesn’t have his own phone or laptop, so mostly it’s when he’s borrowing Dirk or Dave’s, which isn't often.

You show Roxy the messages, and she looks nothing more than absolutely fucking pissed.  
“Wh-What the fuck. Okay. Holy shit, Rosie.” That’s all the confirmation you need, and you two walk out of the room, to the living room, where your mom is cleaning. The wizard statue stares down at you. You stare up at it. Roxy waves at it. It does not wave back, how rude.

You know your mom, when sober, is a very reasonable woman. She never once freaked out about you or Roxy having friends online, because she knows that nothing dangerous will actually come of it. Well, you mean. It could. But it’s very unlikely. Besides, you’ve video chatted with all your friends. You know they’re not catfishing you or something. Your mother raises the feather duster she was using like a wand, you figure you should raise a knitting needle back and engage in a Wizard Battle, however this is a serious situation, and wizard battles can be had later, as it’s not an actual battle, rather silly roleplay.

At both you and Roxy’s serious expressions, your mother’s smile turns into a frown. It might be at more Roxy’s than yours. Roxy is barely serious, and when she is, your mom knows something is up. She puts the feather duster on the shelf she was cleaning with it.

“What’s the matter, girls?”

Despite the fact that you commonly give lengthy speeches, some of a serious and some of an ironic degree, you really have no idea how to broach this topic. You can’t really just say, “hey my internet friend and his brothers are being abused,” can you?

Well, you can’t, but Roxy can. Literally. Word for word. Roxy grabs your phone and shows your mother the messages between you and Dave. 

Needless to say, your mother is horrified. Of course she’d be. Any reasonable person would. She mutters something about the police, and you tell her to look up the number for Houston’s police department.

She goes into her study to make the call, which signifies that you shouldn’t follow. The study is a private place, where scientific discoveries are made. You are not allowed in the study. She explained this to you years ago, and would not like to upset your mother, as she’s trying harder to be a good mom, and really, you’re starting to respect her more for that. 

Roxy gives you the tightest hug imaginable. Well, no. Because you can still breath. It’s still pretty tight, though. After a few minutes of intense sibling hugs, your mother comes out of the study, joining you in the group hug, and then asks you both to help her gather cleaning supplies, and leads you to some spare bedrooms in the house. 

You’re confused. Of course you are. She says she’ll explain why in the morning, because somethings are best left explained over omelettes. You find that unreasonable, but you think she wants to plan her words. Which is definitely something that is reasonable. You and Roxy help her move boxes from the rooms, and they end up as clean as your own, Which at the moment is very clean, save for a few knitting projects in a pile. And your messy bed. You’re going to go back to it at some point in the day, so you don’t really see the point of making it.

The rest of the day passes by in a blur, and the next thing you know, you’re waking up the next day, cuddling a squiddles plush Jade got you.

You head down for breakfast, your hair unbrushed and your pajamas on. 

Omelettes. Of course.

Roxy is already up, which is surprising. She goes to bed late and wakes up late too. She must have been tired. Or worried. Probably both. Definitely both. 

Your mother sighs, shaking her head. “I’m not really sure how to tell you this. There’s really not a good way to do it. I. Well. Roxy, what’s the youngest age you remember to?”

Roxy seems a bit surprised by the question, and she shrugs. “Uh.. Probbly... Probably six? My memory’s shit.”

“Don’t curse when I can hear you,” your mother says, but there’s no actual anger with it. She’s just trying to set a good example. “Anyway, do you remember there being any other kids around? Boys?”

Roxy’s eyebrows furrow, as she concentrates. “Vaguely? Kind of figured that was just a friend I had as a kid, y’know?”

“Well, no. Your father and I divorced when you were six. I took you two, and, uh. He took your brothers.”

Okay, what the fuck? 

“Hm, mother. In Roxy’s sixteen years and my thirteen years, has it ever occured to you tell us that, oh, I don’t know, we have actual brothers? People that share a good portion of our DNA?”

“I mean, I thought I’d tell you when you’re older. I don’t know why, it was really stupid in hindsight.”

“Hell yeah it was! What the fuck are their names?” Ah, and mom’s request not to curse in her vicinity is all but forgotten. Not that you can blame Roxy in the slightest.

Suddenly, it all clicks in your head, the current situation with the Strider brothers, and your mother's instantaneous start to making spaces available. You sigh, and turn to Roxy. “Roxy, it seems to me that, what our mother is insinuating, is that we are genetically related to the Striders.” 

Roxy stares at you, then turns to your mother, who nods. It’s not that Roxy is dumb, she’s probably smarter than most, she just has trouble seeing where conversations are going sometimes. 

Roxy, after a few seconds, sighs. “Okay. Holy shit. Maybe me wanting to protect Hal from fucking everything was instinctual big sister shit then.” your mother slowly nods, and then raises out of her chair, announcing she needs to finish setting the rooms up for the Striders’ arrival, and while you’re excited you finally get to meet your friend and apparent brother, the situation is less than what you hoped your first meeting would be like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JJ: :OO what a twist! or something, im not the best at writing notes or summaries, so you will have to forgive me my good chums!  
> JJ: though we have been having fun with this fic! dont forget to comment if you liked it!! we love hearing feedback and we live for the validation <33


	3. Lux Aeterna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a hal chapter my good chums!!! gosh darn we love this boy
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Rose: Be Hal

 

You are now HAL STRIDER. You are currently pretty scared. The police are here because Rose’s and Roxy's mom called the police. You hide behind Dirk, which the police don’t seem to mind, because you’re ten and you think this is how a ten year old typically reacts to such situations.

They arrested Bro, which was weird. You think what he did at first qualified as resisting arrest? They had to taser him, which you didn’t see. They told Dirk. They’re telling a lot of things to him, he’s the oldest. You decide to check on Dave.

Dave’s sitting on the couch, steering clear of any police officers. You don’t blame him, they really are intimidating, and you know they’ll want you three to come with them soon.

“Hey, lil’ bro. How are ya?” You think he’s still high. But notably less so. You shrug, because you don’t have a good answer, and you don’t like talking when there’s people you don’t know around. You didn’t talk around Bro either.

At some point, the cops tell you three that the ambulance arrived. You guess they came because Dave’s hurt. You all are, really. You don’t have as much scars as your brothers, though. They tried to protect you when they could.

When you arrive at the hospital, they put you into different rooms. This makes you nervous. You’ve never not shared a room with your brothers, and the nurse is asking you questions you can’t answer, because you do not talk to people that are not Dirk or Dave. Bro was more likely to strife if you spoke to him.

Another nurse comes in, and she tries to whisper to the other one about your lack of speaking, but she is rather loud. You do appreciate it though. She leaves as quick as she came.

The nurse gives you a notepad, and softly asks if you’ll talk with it. You think that’s okay. Bro wouldn’t be able to hear that.

You answer her questions like that, until she tells you to follow her to Dave’s room, where both of your brothers presumably are. Dave’s sitting in bed, speed-talking to someone on his phone, as is Dirk.

The nurse leaves, which means you can talk now. Dirk knows this, as before you say anything, he glances away from his phone, looking at you and patting the seat near him. When you sit down, he ruffles your hair a bit. 

“Who are you talking to?” You try to take a glance at Dirk's phone, but he moves it away before you can. You're ten, so you don't pout. Ten year olds don't pout. You're too grown-up for that. 

“Just Roxy and Rose.”

You try to grab at his phone, which he holds too high for you to reach. “I want to say hi!” Dave smiles at that. 

“Well,” Dirk begins, “I can tell them that you said hi. But you can't steal my phone right now.”

Obviously, this idiot is useless. You look over to Dave, who shakes his head.

“Sorry little bro. We're discussing things that ten year olds aren't allowed to listen to. Nine year olds? Fine. Eleven year olds? More than welcome. But no ten year olds allowed.” It's hard to tell because of his shades, but you think he's rolling his eyes at you. You all wear shades, they keep your sensitive eyes from “burning up like my fire mixtape” as Dave had put it once when you asked. 

It's just, things are so boring. Your brothers are preoccupied with talking to people that are almost as cool as you three, and the only books in this room are for babies. You would never bother with that. You read at a seventh grade level, and it is your highest accomplishment. 

At some point, when you begin dozing off, at about eleven, two nurses come to escort you and Dirk to your rooms. You are very unhappy about this, which you make clear. You don't think you could sleep in a room without one of your brothers there too, that just sounds really weird. But the nurses gently tell you that you have to go to bed. There is no use in arguing.

You have trouble falling asleep that night. There's a lot of things on your mind. Still, at some point, you manage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JJ: have you noticed our little chapter naming theme yet? this one is from 2001 space oddessey, just for the Irony of a hal chapter  
> JJ:anyways, hope you enjoyed old chaps!


	4. Bones in my Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gosh okay, 
> 
> TW//  
> Nightmares, Gore, Dismemberment, Mentions to Past Child Abuse, Gore, Scary Hospitals, PTSD Nightmares. 
> 
> JJ: im so so so sorry about this chapter old chaps, the nightmare dave has in this one is a direct reference to one of my own, its Incredibly Dark, so if that sorta thing may upset you please wait for the next update

Hal: Be Dave

 

You are now Dave, which is to say you are pacing around your hospital room, unable to sleep with the fear that Bro could come out of the shadows, usually this would be an irrational thought for someone your age, however these circumstances aren’t ordinary, and you’ve grown wary to Middle Of The Night strifes with Bro. Usually, one of your brothers would help to calm you down, but they have their own hospital rooms, so you have to deal with this alone.Quietly, you pull out your phone, load up a game you have called “Katattak” and begin playing, usually it helps calm you down, and this seems like one of those situations. After failing 13 times you've completely calmed down, and can think clearly again.

This allows you to finally fall asleep, albite slowly.

You can feel your skin crawling as you walk through the halls of the hospital, tiles once crystalline white a now musty yellow, mould growing out of the cracks, specks of blood growing in size as you traverse the halls of the hospital, you round a corner and you see Hal, propped against the wall, black hair dripping in blood and brain, his skull slightly cleaved open, you feel like you could vomit, but when you do nothing but blood comes out.

You briskly walk along the halls, trying the block the memory out of your head, pace quickening, there are nurses and doctors corpses littered around, deep gashes along their body, blood slowly oozing out. You reach the reception area and the sight is more than horrific.

Dirk is laid out on the floor, or what's left of him, body parts scattered, an arm here, a leg there, you can see his head a few inches from his body, you fall to your knees and crawl closer to your older brother, his skin rotting and grey, once again, you throw up, but all that comes up is blood. 

You slowly ascend up the stairs of the hospital, their quiet creak from frequent use audible in the silence, the drawn out beeps of failed heart monitors being the only sound left. When you reach the top you see him, Bro is standing there, sword in hand, covered in blood and guts, you try to flash step away but you’re firmly planted to the ground, limbs not wanting to respond. Bro approaches you, sword slightly raising with each stride. He’s almost standing on top of you now, sword poised and ready to strike. He reels back slightly and then brings it down with immense force.

You suddenly jolt awake, screaming and crying, you quickly silence yourself though, as to not draw any attention, but it’s too late as a nurse barrels into your room, switching the light on.

She looks at you, smiling sadly in an attempt to ease the tension. “Nightmare, huh?” Usually, you would deny such things, but you woke up screaming, so there’s no other excuse. You nod at her, gripping the ends of your blanket.

She's a troll, which, though is common, is still something your brain notices. They came to Earth a bit ago. Your exposure to them was low, but presumably Texas has a high population. You didn’t get out much. 

Trolls began to be raised by older trolls due to the lack of lusi. You don't actually know much about it, you barely know what a lusus even is. 

Looking at her nametag, you see the name Porrim. It’s an awfully pretty name, not that you know much about the aesthetic of names. Hal is the only one you’re close to that doesn’t have a four letter name, which is wild to think about.

”Do you want a glass of water? That could help with calming you down.”

You nod, and she leaves, arriving shortly with a glass. You sip at it slowly.

“How about I talk to you until you feel better? Does that help?” You don’t really know what helps, but sometimes, when you woke up from a nightmare, Hal would ramble about Space Odyssey until you eventually fell back asleep. Not from boredom, he was always surprisingly insightful. Just from feeling calmed down again.

“Yeah, sure.” 

She starts rambling about her little sister, or, as she calls it at first, hatchmate. She's an honor roll student that’s about your age. “Kanaya lives all the way in New York, though, with our mother Dolorosa. That's still odd to me. She works as a nanny, a very well-liked one, too. She’s amazing with children, Kanaya is too, but she prefers to spend her time making clothes. She actually made my favorite dress.”

She continues in this matter, and while your nightmare certainly doesn’t go unforgotten, it’s enough to eventually help you fall back asleep.You wake up that morning without further incidents, and the same nurse from last night bumbles in, carrying a small menu, its hospital issued and you can tell she's hoping you order something big, you're skinny, and it's easy to see how malnourished you are. As you sift down the items on the menu, you decide bacon and eggs might be nice, you've never tried it, but most people say it's good so, why not? You also order yourself a bottle of AJ, and Porrim leaves the room, but not after silently handing you a small notebook with a note from Dirk inside.

You know it's from Dirk because he drew a little orange pair of his anime glasses on the cover. You open it, and it tells you that he's in Hal's room, mentioning that it is the biggest. They're playing Mickey Mouse on the TV since it’s in the children's area, and Hal is absolutely pissed. 

You realise your clothes are sweaty as shit, and you slink into the bathroom joined onto the hospital room to quickly wash off your teen stench. Usually, you try take as long as possible when you're in the shower, it keeps you from Bro, but then again, you could never be too sure he didn't have webcams set up in there too, so you’d always be cautious. This time you're quick to shower, and change, as the promise of breakfast is just along the metaphorical horizon. 

It's almost as if you have Spider Senses, or some shit because three minutes later Porrim walks in with a small tray with food on it. 

“Are you guys understaffed or something?”

This makes her laugh, and she shrugs. “The pediatric area likes kids to get used to one to three nurses. It creates a sense of pattern and normalcy. But yes, we are understaffed. I leave in an hour.”

It's like eight, and you saw her at two. So you guess that's normal. She hands you your breakfast, and she says, “don't eat too fast, now. Your system could react negatively to foods you're not used to, especially if you eat them really quickly.”

Before she leaves, you ask if you're allowed to go to Hal's room. She nods, smiling, asking if you'll need a nurse escort. You deny this, because you figure she has other things to do, and you're not going to get lost. At least, probably not. If you do, you're sure you can ask someone for directions. 

By some stroke of luck, you eat and manage to get to Hal's room with no incident. There's a sofa, a really plain one, but you figure it's there since some people won't want to spend all their time lying down. You end up sitting with them and watching Mickey Mouse, listening to Hal complain about how stupid it is. 

“The plots go by the same formulaic shit each episode! It's always basically the same thing. Oh, you have to help this mouse solve a problem. He should solve his own problems. As soon as we get out of here, I'm watching Space Odyssey forty times.”

God, what an asshole. You ruffle his hair. Things are kind of nice for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JJ: again, so so sorry about this one Chaps, the next chapter should be much nicer and fluffier,,

**Author's Note:**

> PT: hey! we hope you enjoyed, That. remember, comments fuel us to Keep It Goin
> 
> PT: pester logs are absolute hell to do but also it's oddly relaxing?
> 
> PT: we have no set schedule, but we already have about six and a half chapters finished. 
> 
> PT: individual trigger warnings will be added to the tags upon us writing them, and will be presented in the beginning notes before each chapter!
> 
> PT: our tumblrs are probotype n xefhyr!


End file.
